


A Better Day (It Is Coming)

by flipflop_diva



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Camping, Community: picfor1000, F/M, Natasha Needs a Hug, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Relationship, Protective Steve Rogers, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:10:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6136240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team camping trip was supposed to bring them all together. But some things can't always be shared with everyone on the team. Luckily for Natasha, she has Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Better Day (It Is Coming)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the challenge at [A Pic for 1,000](http://picfor1000.livejournal.com/). My inspiration photo is [here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/encouragement/316136898).

It had been Sam's idea. Because according to Sam, nothing said team bonding like a night spent drinking and eating s'mores around a campfire. 

"You know we're Avengers, right?" Natasha had said after he’d suggested it and everyone had stared at him like he’d suddenly told them he was from another planet. "Not Girl Scouts?"

"Oh, Romanoff, you would have made such a cute little Girl Scout," Sam had returned. Rhodey had almost choked on his eggs at that, Natasha had looked offended (probably by Sam calling her cute. They all knew she would have been a badass Girl Scout), and Wanda and Vision had then decided that, yes, they did want to try camping. 

Steve had not been so sure. He was more inclined to think that training drills and movie nights were a better idea, but he'd gone along with it. And so far, well, it wasn't bad. It didn't hurt that Sam was an expert at setting up tents and cooking over fires, and that Vision caught on to both those things exceedingly fast. Plus, he had to admit, it was nice being away from the Avengers facility, where everyone always wanted him for something and there was always a threat around every corner. 

There probably still was a threat around every corner, but it was easier to take a night off when all they were surrounded by were giant trees and the only things they could hear besides each other were the rushing water of the river below them and the occasional car on the one road that had brought them here. 

And mostly everyone seemed to be doing well. Rhodey, Sam, Wanda and Vision were huddled around the fire, laughing at Sam's tales of camping misadventures when he was younger. 

Natasha, on the other hand, had disappeared before they even had dinner (roasted hotdogs and baked beans, courtesy of Sam), and hadn't returned. Steve wasn't worried she was in trouble — he figured her survival skills were better than anyone's — but he _was_ worried she wasn't okay. She’d been keeping to herself more than normal lately, and she seemed distracted, which was odd because Natasha could focus better than the rest of them combined on a bad day. 

So after ensuring the others were not going to burn down the forest, he set off to find her. 

He didn't have to go far. She was sitting in the middle of a wooden bridge that spanned the width of the river, her legs dangling off the side as she stared down at the water, looking as though she thought it maybe held the answers to all her troubles. He sat down beside her and waited for her to acknowledge him. 

Finally, she turned her head. "I thought you all were trading war stories."

"I thought this was a team bonding camping trip."

She shrugged. "You guys are bonding."

"You want to tell me what's wrong?"

She shrugged again. 

"Do you miss him? Is that what this is about?" It was the question he’d been wanting to ask, but hadn't actually dared to, since the Hulk had cut off all contact and disappeared before they left Sokovia. He didn't really know the extent of Natasha’s relationship with Bruce, and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. 

Natasha, though, just shrugged for the third time in less than a minute. This time Steve fixed her with a disappointed expression. "You're going to have to give me more than that."

She didn’t. Not at first. But then, after what felt like minutes, she tilted her head and studied him. “No,” she said, and her voice was soft. “I don’t miss him. Not like how you mean.”

“But you do miss him another way?” 

“I miss ….” Natasha paused, like she was trying to find the words. She started over. “Have you ever missed something that wasn’t real? Something that was just a promise of what could have been?”

Steve almost scoffed at that. “You know I have.”

Her lips curved up. “Yeah,” she said. “Sorry.” Then, “I guess for a moment I just had a vision of another life. One where someone wanted to be with me. Maybe even love me. One where there was no more fighting, no more red in my ledger.” She stopped, shrugged again. “It's stupid.”

“No, it's not.” He reached for her hand. To his surprise, she let him take it. “You’re allowed to want more for yourself, Natasha. You deserve to have it.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Maybe.”

She leaned forward, to look past Steve and back to the way he had come, back toward the other Avengers. Then she sat back up. “Do you think we could not go back just yet? Maybe stay here for another minute?”

“Of course.” He squeezed her hand. “As long as you want.”

As long as she wanted turned into dawn the next morning. They sat there, together, just watching the water until she fell asleep, her head in his lap. He stayed awake, watching the stars twinkle in the night sky and then watching as the sun came up in the morning. He turned his head upward when he felt the first small splash of raindrops from the sky, and he shifted his weight to cover her so she wouldn’t get wet. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw something sparkle and he turned to look. A small rainbow, its colors vibrant in the morning light, was hanging low over the road they had come in on.

He thought about waking Natasha up, having her look at it, telling her it was a sign that good things were on the horizon for her. He thought about telling her she was wrong, that she did have someone who cared about her, that she did have someone who maybe loved her. 

But he didn’t. Instead he just held her and watched the rainbow. 

There would be time to tell her all that later.


End file.
